The Berry Patch is a place in TN where the Berry Family dwell, abiding in Christ and aspiring to become more like Him day-by-day.

Friday, August 11, 2017

August 11, 2017 …”If I’d Only ___”

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 223

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song and lyrics from Keith and Kristen Getty singing their song … By Faith … poignantly singing of the steadfast faith it takes to follow Christ and share Him with a lost and dying world.

=============Highlight Verse[s]: John 11:27 [NLT] … 27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One who has come into the world from God.”
… Martha takes her eye off of herself and her grieve to see Jesus for Whom He really is, … her Messiah.
==============Highlight Passage [context]: John 11:21-35 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Martha and Mary, grieving the loss of Lazarus, show differing degrees of faith in their Lord and Messiah.
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Reference Passage #1 [NLT] : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
… But do we really trust Him? Reference Passage #2 [NLT] : … Romans 8:28 [NLT] … 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
… The Bible says it; so it’s true. But do we have the faith to believe it … and live it?!

Reference Passage #3 [NLT] : … Hebrews 13:5 [NLT] … 5 “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” … A quote by the Author of Hebrews from Deut. 31:6,8 and Joshua 1:5 clearly stating that we must look in faith beyond our circumstances and believe God will always be there for the believer.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Cindy Hess Kasper used a personal story to teach on faith in the midst of trials. The ODB author wrote: As we exited the parking lot, my husband slowed the car to wait for a young woman riding her bike. When Tom nodded to indicate she could go first, she smiled, waved, and rode on. Moments later, the driver from a parked SUV threw his door open, knocking the young bicyclist to the pavement. Her legs bleeding, she cried as she examined her bent-up bike. Later, we reflected on the accident: If only we had made her wait . . . If only the driver had looked before opening his door. If only . . . Difficulties catch us up in a cycle of second-guessing ourselves. If only I had known my child was with teens who were drinking . . . If only we had found the cancer earlier . . .

Quite often we have trouble seeing the world thru the eyes of faith in Christ because we’re blinded by regrets, … the “IF I”D ONLY”s in our life. … Or we let the dire circumstances in which we find ourselves blind ourselves to the One Who has saved us. This was the case for Martha and Mary, who, in the highlight passage, were both saying to Jesus, ”If ONLY”. They felt that if He had been there, their brother, Lazarus, would not have died. But he did die; and their grief was so great that they had trouble seeing Jesus as the One they believed Him to be … their Messiah. But He was there for them and with them as Messiah; and He showed them that their faith was not in vain.

Perhaps readers here can identify with the “If I’d only” regrets that the OBD author writes about, … the regrets or doubts which hold us back from the faith sung about by the Getty’s in the linked song. But if we believe the reference Scriptures to be true (AND THEY ARE!!), then we need to muster up the faith God gives us and realize that He’ll lever abandon us … AND … all He does or allows is for our good as believers in our Lord as Messiah.

Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.